Animales

Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of thefamily Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct. Three living species of elephant are recognized: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephantand the Indian or Asian elephant;  although some group the two African species into one and some researchers also postulate the existence of a fourthspecies in West Africa. All other species and genera of Elephantidae are extinct. Most have been extinct since the last ice age, although dwarf forms of mammothsmight have survived as late as 2,000 BCE.] Elephants and other Elephantidae were once classified with other thick-skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata.
Elephants are the largest living land animals on Earth today. Theelephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth, an elephant calf typically weighs 105 kilograms (230 lb). They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years.The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1955.  This male weighed about 10,900 kg (24,000 lb) with a shoulder height of 3.96 metres (13.0 ft), 1 metre(3.3 ft) taller than the average male African elephant.  The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene epoch.
Elephants are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory andintelligence; their intelligence level is thought to be comparable to thatofdolphins and primates. Aristotle once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind." The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek ἐλέφας, meaning "ivory" or "elephant".
Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although lions may take calves or weak individuals. They are, however, threatened by human intrusion and poaching.The domestic cat (Felis catus or Felis silvestris catus) is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal. It is often called the housecat when kept as an indoor pet, or simply the cat when there is no need to distinguish it from otherfelids and felines. Cats are valued by humans for companionship and ability to huntvermin andhousehold pests. They are primarily nocturnal.
Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth adapted to killing small prey. Ascrepuscular predators, cats use their acute hearing and ability to see in near darkness to locate prey. Not only can cats hear sounds too faint for human ears, they can also hear soundshigher in frequency than humans can perceive. This is because the usual prey of cats (particularly rodents such as mice) make high frequency noises, so the hearing of the cat has evolved to pinpoint these faint high-pitched sounds. Cats also have a much better sense of smell than humans.
Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species, and cat communicationincludes the use of a varietyof vocalizations (meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growlingand grunting) as well as pheromones and types of cat-specific body language.
Cats have a rapid breeding rate. Under controlled breeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by spaying and neutering and the abandonment of former householdpetshas resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, with a population of up to 60 million of these animals in the United States alone.
Since cats were cult animals in ancient Egypt, it was commonly believed to have been domesticated there, but there may have been instances of domestication as early as the Neolithic. A genetic study in 2007 revealed that all house cats are descended from...